THE Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of doctors under the aegis of Nigeria Medical Association to continue with the ongoing strike.
Chukwu said the Federal Government had hoped that the doctors would call off the strike after its Emergency Delegates Meeting that ran through Monday till the early hours of Tuesday (yesterday).
According to him, the doctors after the meeting insisted on continuing with the strike because the Federal Government offers are not in tandem with their expectations.
Chukwu who spoke in Lagos yesterday , said the doctors gave three fresh demands revolving around payment of their six months arrears, approval of skipping of levels for some cadres of doctors and appointment of other health professionals as consultants as conditions for ending the strike.
He lamented that in spite of government efforts to end the strike, the workers remained resolute to continue the strike.
He said, “I got a call that made it clear to me that after our long overnight meeting and in spite of the fact that I, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and some lawmakers went to address them around 11pm; they resolved not to return to work.
“We are actually addressing most of the issues that can be addressed through administrative processes. With that, we expected them to return to work but that has not happened.
“As a doctor, without sounding immodest, I am convinced this is one strike that should not have taken place.”
He said the ministry of health and finance has begun moves to clear the arrears, adding that matters relating to skipping and appointment of consultants were still in court.
Chukwu said, “They are requesting that accrued arrears since January be paid, saying until they receive the alert on their phone they will not call off the strike. But, we pleaded with them to be patient owing to the fact that the appropriation bill took long to be passed and the issue of relativity was new. It is something that did not exist until January.
“Another reason they gave for not returning to work has to do with the issue of consultants. Since the 70s to 90s, non-medical doctors have been appointed by various hospitals and those hospitals are being managed by medical doctors.
“Again, when NMA complained, I stopped it. It was also the reason why others went to court and the court ruled that the ministry and government have the right to decide who should be a consultant in their hospitals but NMA asked the ministry to disobey the court, which is not possible.
Meanwhile, the senate yesterday appealed to the striking doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association to call off their one-week industrial action to avoid further loss of lives.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, stated this when he presided over the plenary where the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, updated his colleagues on efforts being made to resolve the strike which had paralysed activities in all public hospitals.
Ekweremadu maintained that the continued absence of the medical practitioners from their duty posts was seriously affecting the masses most of who could not afford the cost of treating themselves in privately owned health facilities in the country.
“We are seizing this opportunity to appeal to the doctors who are currently on strike to call off their industrial action because as long as they continue in the action, the casualty figure will keep increasing” ,he said.
Okowa had, while raising a point of order on the issue, explained that his committee had met with the leadership of the NMA, an action he added, necessitated the setting up of a Presidential Technical Committee headed by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
He said the technical committee which also had members of the NMA as members, held a marathon meeting where the leadership of the striking doctors appealed to their members in the specialist health institutions to resume work.
He said while the NMA members in the tertiary health institutions had since resumed at their duty posts, the overall body had yet to start attending to patients.
The senator however assured the senate that his committee would continue to mediate in the industrial logjam until all the grey areas are resolved and the strike called off.
